CONTENTS
eviews
‘PLORER, GEMIR, CRIER’ ‘Homage to Johannes Ockeghem’ Diabolus in Musica / Antoine Guerber Aeon AECD1226 ‘This performance is so well judged that it positively invites repeated listening. The Credo is particularly impressive.’
REVIEW ON PAGE 72
HANDEL ‘Finest Arias for Base Voice’ Christopher Purves bass Arcangelo / Jonathan Cohen Hyperion CDA67842 ‘Possessing in effect two voices in one – a ringing, high baritone with a sonorous bass extension – Purves veils his tone to convey bemusement, even pathos.’
REVIEW ON PAGE 77
‘ROMANTIQUE’ Opera Arias Elīna Garanča mez Bologna Teatro Comunale Philharmonic Orchestra / Yves Abel DG 479 0071GH ‘“O mon Fernand!” expresses shame and despair. Garan∂a sings the slow section with artless simplicity and the cabaletta with passion.’
REVIEW ON PAGE 84
‘NOUVEAU MONDE’ Baroque Arias and Songs Patricia Petibon sop Kevin Greenlaw bar La Cetra / Andrea Marcon DG 479 0079GH ‘“Nouveau monde” is a tightly thought-through, compelling programme, a tour de force for its performer/compiler, most atmospherically recorded.’
REVIEW ON PAGE 85
DVD/Blu-ray PUCCINI Tosca Soloists; Chorus and Orchestra of the Royal Opera House / Antonio Pappano; Jonathan Kent dir EMI Classics ◊ 404063 9; Y 404064 9 ‘The orchestra pit teems with drama as vividly as the stage.’
REVIEW ON PAGE 80
gramophone.co.uk
Reissue/Archive DEBUSSY Pelléas et Mélisande Soloists; BBC Chorus; Philharmonia Orchestra / Désiré-Émile Ingelbrecht Testament SBT3 1484 ‘Ingelbrecht sculpts a rich, weighty but microscopically balanced reading of the composer’s only completed opera.’
REVIEW ON PAGE 76
Reviewed this month: 47 German symphonies; 19 Austrian symphonies; 1 Swedish symphony
ORCHESTRAL
Frans Brüggen’s Beethoven symphonies; Dudamel’s Symphony of a Thousand; Schubert cycles from Minkowski and van Immerseel
46
CHAMBER
James Ehnes’s Bartók sonatas; one half of the Belcea Quartet’s Beethoven cycle; exploring English music for viola and piano
60
INSTRUMENTAL
66
Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations on period and new pianos; Chopin from Maurizio Pollini; Rachmaninov plays Rachmaninov (and others)
VOCAL
Lincoln Cathedral salutes John Ireland; English consort music from Canada; Andreas Scholl sings Brahms, Haydn and Mozart
70
OPERA
The Ring from the Met; Carmen live from Glyndebourne; Peter Sellars directs Stravinsky and Tchaikovsky; Christmas Cav & Pag
76
BOOKS
86
Two books explore the life and legacy of conducting legend Arturo Toscanini; Thomas Adès on the art of composition and conversation
REPLAY
88
Rob Cowan delves into EMI’s ‘Icon’ box-sets, Profil’s set of Günter Wand recordings and treats from John Ogdon and Christian Ferras
THE SPECIALIST’S GUIDE
David Gutman unveils the playful, deceptive and uplifting music of Bohuslav Martin≤ that reaches far beyond the six symphonies
90
THE GRAMOPHONE COLLECTION
Richard Wigmore hunts down the finest available recordings of Gustav Mahler’s cycle of songs to texts by Friedrich Rückert
92
GRAMOPHONE JANUARY 2013 5
